Leeds - J27 - Ryan Review

Well, I'd had a pre-race chickeny meal, so why not have a post-race chickeny meal too?? Seeing as though there was only one remaining Nando's in Leeds I hadn't been to, it would have been crazy not to stop in on my way back home!

This Nando's is located on the Birstall Shopping Park, which is just off J27 of the M62 in Batley. It's a large retail park anchored by an Ikea and Toys R Us, but also has plenty of other shops especially if you want to buy a settee! There's a Harveys, CSL, Furniture Village, Barker and Stonehouse, SCS, DFS, Home Sense and Dreams - pretty much next to each other! How do all these shops survive???

There's also a large Showcase Cinema, which then also has other eateries around it (KFC, McDonals, Pizza Hut etc).

The Nando's is actually a little tucked away, so you can't see it at first from the access roads off the Motorway, but just head towards the Showcase (down and round) and you'll see it. As for the parking, do make sure you drive round those extra seconds to get by Nando's (behind Pizza Hut), as I found there were hundreds of empty spaces here, whereas it was all a little hectic in the parking by the other eateries and shops. Parking is free as well.

Being by a Showcase Cinema, I was expecting it to be the same circular feel and decor as all the other ones I have seen - and I wasn't wrong except it was a little more open plan. The outside had the same wooden arches/pillars surrounding the building - which also had the familiar yellow paint on the outside. There were four broken steps up to the entrance which were taped up (which did make it seem a bit tired), but then you hear the music blasting out of a speaker outside - whoop whoop!

Inside, there are up to 45 tables and, being by a cinema, they have been laid out to accommodate multiple sized groups. There are six large booths running along the left hand wall (starting as soon as you enter) and then a bench/chair and normal table/chair seating in the middle. In the front right corner there's more bench/table seating and then normal table/chair seating running along the windows on the right-hand side all the way to the back where the toilets are found.

The decor had the familiar Showcase stone clad walls, with lots of pots/plants on the separating walls. There were a few canvases and carvings dotted around too - and the lighting consisted of lots of spotlights dangling from the wood panelled ceiling. Toilets were also very clean, but overall - this was an averagely decorated Nando's.

I arrived here at about 2:45pm on a Sunday and it was just over half full - so no wait to order and the food came in 7 minutes.

The food was again delicious. It was as good as the one I had at the Trinity Centre yesterday. The chicken was piping hot and moist and smothered in sauce, and the meat was white. The rice was hot and moist and particularly flavoursome and the chips were hot and crispy and towering on hte plate. This just can't quite get a full 5/5 as the chicken portion was smaller than the last few I'd had, but it was still a delicious meal - and certainly filled a hole after the Leeds Half Marathon!